IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Harrison Place, DUMBARTON, G82 4QG

Travelling southwards into Renton.

Sign on Main Street, coming into Renton. When the town proclaimed itself "birthplace of Tobias Smollett", the papers ran an article on the little-known former resident 18th Century novelist.

The area on the right is the Cordale. For a while, it was called Kirkland, although it now seems to have reverted to its original name. "At the end of the first war, Hillfoot was built, and Cordale Scheme just before the second war. This scheme was renamed 'Kirkland' in honour of Dr Kirk, a well-respected gentleman of Renton" ["The Story of the Vale of Leven", J.Agnew, 1976]. (For the area to the left of the road, see Image) Around 2000, the Cordale area was rebuilt. The new street names commemorate local people; these include: ● Gallacher Way: after Richard 'Skeets' Gallacher, a boxer [see "The Skeets Gallacher Story", by Keith Grant, for further information]. ● Harrison Place: James Harrison was a newspaper editor and owner, and an innovator in the field of refrigeration. ● Glen View: James Allison Glen became Speaker of the House of Commons in Canada. ● Katherine Place: after Katherine Drain, who wrote poetry. ● Wylie Place: after Alexander Wylie, who was very prominent in the local textile and dyeing industry. Cordale House, where he lived, is now long gone, but it stood at or near Image ● Jackson Place: after the footballer Alex Jackson, who was capped 17 times for Scotland.

For other pictures taken in Millburn Gardens, click on the end-note title.

See Image for another view of this area. The present photograph is a wintry counterpart of Image

The photograph was taken from the top of Image, and is a view along the buildings on Main Street. Note the wall just to the left of the road. The name Main Street applies not just to the road beside which these buildings stand, on the near side of the wall, but also to the main road for traffic; that road is on the other side of the wall, and runs in the same direction.

Click on the end-note title for related pictures. The present view shows, in the right background, through a gap in a wall, a Image (Image). On the left is a Image The distant hillside is the area between Dalquhurn Farm and Millburn Muir. Compare Image, taken from further along the same path.

Lighting is often a challenge at this time of year, but the motivation for taking this picture was that work to replace the bridge had finished just a few days earlier. Its predecessor is shown in Image, in more or less the same place, as revealed by the alignment of background features.

Welcome to Renton sign showing the Tobias Smollet Monument with Milburn Church Steeple and St Martin's Chapel House to the right